My Heart Was a House
by The Silver Circuit
Summary: "Jade, why are you staring at me?" He asked, finally. "Because you don't feel good and won't tell me."


There were many words one could use to describe Jade West, but stupid and unobservant were, quite notably, not included, and Beck – being as close to her as he was – should have known that. He should have known that sleeping in an extra fifteen minutes wouldn't go unnoticed, and asking her to drive would have set her constantly-working little mind into overdrive. And it did. The entire drive to school was spent with a scowl etched neatly on her face and a silence set between them that wasn't broken.

She had spent most of the day like that, too: either staring at him or staying completely quiet as if she could hear some weird kind of fault in his breathing that she could use as evidence. In Sikowitz's class he fell asleep with her in his arms, and got a coconut thrown at him which had instead hit Jade. Needless to say, she wasn't happy, and the yelling that was exchanged between student and teacher was enough to bring him back into consciousness. When she returned back to her seat, she shot him a glare – for either falling asleep in the first place, or being the reason she got hit with a coconut, he didn't know, but knowing her, it was probably both. He'd apologized, and from what Jade could see by looking at him every two minutes, tried his hardest to stay awake for the remainder of the period.

It took nearly every ounce of self-control in her to not totally go off on him in the hallway and start bombarding him with questions as to why he was acting so weird, but as it rolled around lunch, she just couldn't help herself. He'd allowed them to sit away from the others, and for that she was grateful, but still suspicious, so instead of eating, her attention was wasted with boring holes into his skull with her looks.

"Jade, why are you staring at me?" He asked, finally.

"Because you don't feel good and won't tell me."

She had to figure it out eventually, after all, and really, it was just a wild guess, but it all made sense. Besides, they had two years of dating under their belt, in which she'd seen him in nearly every condition you could possibly think of, and had paid attention enough to know most of the signs. He sighed, tilting his head so that his cheek rested atop her head.

"Fine." He submitted a lot faster than she expected him to. "You got me."

"Tch. Of course I did. I'm not stupid, you know."

"Hey, I was leading you on better than you think." He was trying to keep his voice light, but it was clear he was struggling. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't have even gotten up this morning."

"That bad, huh?" It looked like her soft spot for the boy was already beginning to show.

He nodded. "It started last night."

"Want me to take you home?"

"Please."

She took a deep breath, wiggling herself out of his arms. "Okay. Just give me a minute." She picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder, while she left him there as she headed over to their little 'posse' of friends. The second it became obvious she was heading towards them, they all turned and quieted, staring.

"As much as it sickens me to ask you guys for help, I need you to do something for me."

None of them said a word.

"If anybody asks why Beck and I aren't in class, can you tell them I took him home?" She shifted her weight, draping a set of fingers at her hip.

"Why?" Tori raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because he's sick and making him hang around here would be torture."

"…Okay."

"Tell him I hope he feels better." Cat chimed, looking over to where he sat.

"Yeah, whatever." Pivoting on her heel, she went back to him, poked his shoulder and told him that she was ready. He was looking more miserable by the minute, now that she got him to quit his little I'm-feeling-fine act, and he slipped the keys into her hand as they approached his truck.

* * *

><p>When they got back to the RV he promptly undressed into pajamas – if that was what you could call them, because all he'd really done was peel off his shirt and put on a pair a sweatpants that she, honestly, didn't even know he owned. The overly-quiet way he was acting made it obvious he really wasn't up to doing much of anything. He refrained from moving as much as he could, and eventually decided that curling up on the couch to watch TV would be the best plan. Jade joined him, on his request, and the both of them sat there comfortably snuggled up next to each other with his arm draped over her shoulders and hers snaked around his waist. She wasn't normally one to oblige to just hanging out for long periods of time. It bored her, and in any other situation she would have tried to find something else for them to do, but he wasn't feeling well and anyone could see that, so she wasn't about to push him into doing more than he needed to just because she decided to be a brat.<p>

For awhile they sat like that, cuddled up and just enjoying the other's company, although neither said a word. Every few minutes she would look up to him; see how he blinked tiredly at the screen, fighting sleep, but he never gave into it. With her free hand she began to play with his fingers, eventually letting them sink into the vacant spaces between hers.

"You can fall asleep, you know." She said quietly, bringing her gaze back up to his face.

He just shook his head and closed his eyes. She could feel him start to tense a little underneath her touch.

"Beck?"

"Shh."

"Hey, are you al-" She stopped mid-sentence when he raised an index finger to quiet her. Her eyes remained fixed on his expression, carefully listening at his attempts to deepen his breathing, although it didn't seem as if he could get the exhale just the way he wanted, and in the end he just gave up. Hurriedly, he untangled himself from her, disappearing into the bathroom. As if on instinct, she was up on her feet in seconds, attempting to follow behind him, but was stuck at the door fumbling with the lock.

"Come on, babe. Unlock the door." She dropped her hands back at her sides in defeat.

"No. Just give me a minute."

Jade huffed. Picking the lock and kicking the door open were options, but if he really felt like it was necessary to lock her out, she should at least respect that a little bit, even if she never had before. But, right now, to her it felt like the right time to let him win. She backed up, sitting on the bed. There was a long period of silence in the room as she waited, albeit impatiently, for him to come out again, but the quiet was shattered by the sound of retching on the other side of the door, and she shuddered at the noise, even if his inevitable misery managed to simultaneously pull at her heartstrings.

Fidgeting, her attention remained glued to the closed door, and eventually, following the toilet flushing and the sink running, she heard him flip the lock. She straightened, staring intently as he emerged.

"This sucks." He mumbled; voice tired and lackluster. It all quite accurately reflected his appearance. He looked absolutely exhausted and his legs trembled slightly underneath his weight. Jade pursed her lips, not taking her eyes off him for a second as he crawled onto the bed and curled on his side, facing the wall.

"Could be worse."

"Doesn't get much worse than throwing up in an RV bathroom."

"You could be throwing up in a hospital bathroom."

"It'd be nicer."

"You'd feel too crappy to care."

"I guess."

She turned and climbed in behind him, resting her arm over his waist so that her hand fell at his stomach where she stroked the bare flesh with her thumb. From the way they lay, she couldn't see his face anymore, but he was starting to relax again and she figured that it wouldn't take very long for him to fall asleep. She found herself waiting a lot longer than expected, though, and eventually she sat up at little so that she could look down at him. His eyes were still open, transfixed on the wall as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world, but his eyelids were heavy and every few seconds they would flutter shut before he forced them open again.

"Seriously, Beck, you're exhausted. Why don't you just go to sleep?"

He hesitated for a moment, like he needed to prepare himself to speak. "I'm trying not to get sick again."

"If you're _sleeping_ you won't have to worry about that."

"I'm uncomfortable. I feel gross. I can't _not_ worry about it."

"You fidget when you're uncomfortable and you haven't moved an inch in the last fifteen minutes, so it can't be that bad."

"Believe me, I would love to fidget and get comfortable."

"So why…?"

"If I move I'll get sick." He averted his eyes from the wall, straining his gaze to look at her. "Priorities, Jade."

She sighed, beginning to climb off the bed. He made no move to stop her, not like she expected him to, and maneuvered herself so she could see his face clearly. For a minute they simply stared at one another, not saying a word, but eventually Jade cleared her throat and straightened.

"Do you want me to get you something? Like water, tea, coffee…?"

"Coffee?" He raised an eyebrow like she'd just requested something totally bizarre. "Isn't that supposed to make you feel worse?"

She shrugged, "I dunno."

"Do _you_ normally drink coffee when you're sick?"

"I try."

"And how does that work out for you?"

"…Not good."

"Exactly." The ghost of a smile tugged at his lips and something in her felt proud about being able to take his mind off of him feeling bad, even if it was for only a few seconds. "Bring me whatever." He paused for a second. "Just no coffee."

"Are your parents home?"

"Yeah."

"I'm borrowing your car, then."

"Why?"

"Your parents_ hate_ me." She grabbed her bag and his keys from the table. "Alright. I'll be back." With that, she swung out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

* * *

><p>She returned back in a bad mood that could have only been invoked by being forced to converse with annoying strangers. The people at the coffee shop practically knew her by name. It was where Beck took her almost every morning before school, but she didn't think that they'd ever seen her come in by herself, and they'd tried to talk to her like they thought she was a decently friendly person. Ha. Too bad for them. They did prove a little bit helpful, though, when she informed them that Beck was sick and they offered to brew some tea that they said would help. She accepted, but didn't actually show any gratitude.<p>

With a bottle of water, his tea, and her coffee tucked into her arms, it took her a couple of tries, but she eventually managed to open the door. Stepping inside, she peered around the wall and saw him curled up on the bed, eyes closed. There was a grin that threatened to bring itself upon her face, and instead of waking him up as she normally would have, she took a seat at the table, unloading her arms. Loud and unnecessary? Yeah. That was her. Most of the time. But, she'd spent the last hour trying to get him to sleep, so she wasn't about to get him up just because she came home.

Instead, she reached across the table, grabbing a pen and ripping a sheet of paper from one of his school notebooks. On it, she scribbled a note that she addressed to him, folded up, and set on the table.

_This is tea. Don't ask me what kind. All I know is that the people at the place told me it would help. And yes, I actually made humane conversation with strangers today. Be proud. Anyway, this next to it is water; just in case, you know? And somewhere in the room is another cup. It has coffee in it and it's mine. You can't have any. Also, I suggest not waking me up if I'm still asleep. You know better than anyone how I get. _

She took a sip from her coffee, before abandoning it on the surface, as well – it could be reheated later if need be – and left her seat to lie beside him on the bed. There was nothing for her to do here in the dead of quiet, without him, and going home wasn't something that sounded all too appealing, so she settled for joining him. Positioning herself, she searched for the light switch on the wall, flipping it off. The room became dark despite the light that still remained outside, because of the bulletproof covering over the windows, which she now decided were much more effective than curtains when it came to keeping light out. The silence was enough to calm her into sleep, and it didn't take long before her breathing evened out, too.

* * *

><p>I was originally going to make this a chapter in a little collection of oneshots I was planning on writing. But, once I got started I decided it was too long for somsething like that. xD Anway, I apologize for any OOC that might have happened during this. I really only wrote it because it statisfied my little craving for cute. Ha. So yeah, I hope you liked it anyway.<p>

Reviews are sexy and favourites are love, btw. (;


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